


you know how i feel

by ashley_in_the_know



Series: The Greyskull Chronicles [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, F/M, First Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 11:03:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17323811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashley_in_the_know/pseuds/ashley_in_the_know
Summary: a companion piece to Nein for a NightorVex and Percy get their heads out of their asses and live happily ever after





	you know how i feel

_it's a new dawn_  
_it's a new day_  
 _it's a new life_  
 _for me_  
 _and i'm feeling good_

* * *

If you were to ask Vex where she thought she’d be spending New Dawn’s Eve, Allura Vysoren’s Cloudtop penthouse wouldn’t have made her top five guesses. It wouldn’t have made her top  _twenty_ guesses, to be perfectly honest. Sure, Allura was lovely and kind and always made a point to talk to Vex and her friends whenever they met, but she was also a wealthy grad student who was friends with the  _literal_ heir to the throne. And the SHITs (as their group chat was so lovingly named)? Well, they were eight undergrads crammed into a crumbling townhouse in the Outer Slums.

But, while the invitation had been completely unexpected, they were never ones to turn down free booze (or food...or anything, for that matter...). So, here they were, thirty minutes to midnight, rubbing shoulders with Emon University elite. Pike had bribed Grog into wearing pants  _and_ shoes, though he’d dug his heels in at the mention of a tie, and even Vex had dipped into her precious savings to buy a new dress for the occasion.

The dress is  _perfect_ , all black silk and blue lace, just long enough to avoid being indecent, but still sexy enough to make Percy fumble his phone when she’d come down the stairs. That had been a rather pleasant ego boost, with the added bonus of giving her hope that Percy’s feelings for her perhaps mirrored her own for him.

She can see him now, across the room standing at the bar (and  _seriously_ , Allura has a fucking  _bar_ in her apartment? What the fuck?), making small talk with Uriel Tal’dorei himself. Tiberius would be shitting himself with jealousy, if he weren’t too busy flirting with Allura, utterly oblivious to the halfling, who is most definitely Allura’s girlfriend, glaring daggers at him. Only, Vex can tell that Percy is bored and looking for an out. And what kind of friend would she be if she didn’t help him?

Vex approaches the bar under the guise of refilling her champagne, and the snippet of conversation she manages to catch is enough to have  _her_ eyes glazing over. And  _she’s_ majoring in Finance. Percy, while good with money, really could not care less about business or accounting, or, specifically, the inner workings of inter-continental trade agreements.

She waits for Uriel to end his current spiel, and for Percy to respond before she interrupts. “I am so sorry, your Grace,” she says, addressing the Sovereign-to-be, “I know it’s terribly rude of me, but would you mind if I steal Percival away from you? There’s a rather pressing conversation I’ve been meaning to have with him.”

Uriel, for his part, smiles graciously. “Not at all, Miss Vex’ahlia. Steal away,” he says. “I apologize for taking up so much of your time, Percival. I know I have a tendency to monopolize conversation. The perils of being a politician, I suppose.”

“It was a pleasure, really,” Percy lies, shaking Uriel’s hand. “Have a happy New Dawn, your Grace.”

Vex links their arms and steers them towards the balcony, which is deserted because it’s Duscar and therefore really fucking cold. She barely has time to shiver in the winter air before Percy is draping his heavy, blue coat over her shoulders.

“Thanks,” she says, getting her arms into the sleeves and snuggling in. She probably looks ridiculous, bundled in his oversized coat like a child. If only she could be bothered to care.

Percy smirks, sips his own drink. “You saved my life just now. I thought it only polite to return the favor.”

She laughs. “It was either rescue you, or watch you turn your napkin into a swan, and we all made a deal to not embarrass ourselves for Allura’s sake.”

He laughs too, but then falls silent for a few minutes. When he does speak again, he sounds nervous, and she can’t decide if it’s a good omen or bad. “Vex,” he starts, “do you...actually have something that you want to discuss with me, or was that just made up to get me away from Uriel?” He doesn’t wait for her response. “Because, even if it was just made up, I think that we really do need to talk. About...certain things.”

_About my birthday,_ she thinks. About the wild party all those months ago, where she and Percy got shitfaced and made out in his workshop. Where she woke up in his bed, fully clothed and stupidly hungover, and panicked and ran. Where she pretended not to remember any of that night, including the bit where he told her that he was in love with her and then kissed her senseless before she dragged him off somewhere private.

“No, you’re right,” she says, downing half of her champagne in one go. “We do need to talk.” She takes a deep breath and looks him in the eye. Because, as much as she wants to, she can’t be a coward now. “I’m sorry, Percy.”

He nods. “For what?” he prompts.

“For lying to you,” she says, gnawing on her lip. “The morning after me and Vax’s birthday, I told you that I didn’t remember anything that had happened the night before. But, I lied. I remembered...I  _remember_ everything.”

He nods again, smiles sadly. “I thought that you must,” he admits. “You were so distant after that night. I could only conclude that I’d...said too much. Freaked you out. Scared you off. Made you hate me.”

She takes his free hand in hers, squeezes. “I could never hate you, darling,” she promises. “Quite the opposite, really.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “Vex...”

“You did scare me,” she confesses. “I mean,  _gods_ Percy, you’d never made any indication before then that you had so much as a crush, and then you were telling me that you were in love with me, and you  _kissed me._  And I certainly didn’t stop you, I didn’t want to stop you, but I’d never really considered...and then I woke up, and I wasn’t drunk anymore, and it was  _real,_  and it was all too much, and I panicked.”

Percy cups her cheek with the hand that she doesn’t currently have in a death grip, wipes away tears she didn’t even realize were falling. “I’m sorry for putting you through all of that,” he says. “I never meant to spring that on you the way that I did. I was drunk, and I wasn’t thinking rationally, and we’d been flirting all night, so I just thought  _fuck it_  and put it all out there, without any regard as to how you might feel about it.” He squeezes her hand. “I was never angry with you for lying, for distancing yourself. It was perfectly rational, once I had time to think clearly about it.”

She smiles sadly. “I only distanced myself so that I could sort out my feelings properly. And then once I did...” She chuckles ruefully. “Well, let’s just say I probably owe my brother and Pike a lifetime’s worth of drinks for dealing with that whole mess.”

Percy laughs. “That certainly explains some things.”

“What things, Percy?”

He shakes his head. “Nothing of consequence, dear. Harmless pranks, I can tell you later.”

Vex shrugs. “I don’t really care, in all honesty,” she says. “Just tell me one thing, Percy.”

“What’s that, Vex’ahlia?”

She swallows her nerves. “Are you still in love with me?”

He smiles. “Yes.” He brings her hand to his lips, kisses it. “Tell me one thing in return, Vex?” She nods. “Have you sorted out your feelings for me?”

“Yes.” She licks her lips. “Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the Third, I am hopelessly in love with you.”

The grin that splits his face is the brightest she’s ever seen from him. “Well then.” He ducks his head as she surges up to meet him, and then they’re kissing. And it could be minutes or it could be years, but she thinks she’s never experienced a more pleasurable way to lose track of time.

The spell is broken by the sound of the party counting down to midnight. “We’re going to miss the fireworks,” Percy mumbles against her lips.

Vex grins. “I couldn’t give a  _fuck_ about fireworks right now, Percy. You?”

He presses his forehead to hers, cups her face in his hands. “With you right in front of me, how could I?”


End file.
